Readers share thoughts on guns, gay pastor, editorial cartoon

Guns’ deadly toll

I have not heard anyone bring up a fundamental fact of animal (not just human) behavior. When threatened, frightened or subjected to other intense emotions, animals strike out at their own kind.

Today we say people assault each other. Suicide is functionally an assault on oneself.

Throughout history, groups have tried to lessen this tendency to assault. How best to accomplish this is a matter of fierce debate. Suffice it to say we have not found any way to stop this behavior. Our assaultive nature seems unlikely to change any time soon.

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Most murders and suicide attempts are committed during extreme emotion and often not repeated. When assaults (or suicides) occur with firearms, they end in death or tragic damage more often than if the assault was with some other weapon.

The phrase should be changed from “Guns don’t kill people …” to “When assaults occur with firearms, people die.”

Every year about 30,000 Americans are killed by firearms. If firearms were difficult to get in times of high emotion (either by being less available or by being properly stored), many more people would survive.

Greg Kifer

Olathe

Support for pastor

Upon reading the Aug. 19 story, “Gay pastor agrees to leave post at Methodist church,” I was sickened by the actions of the Edgerton United Methodist Church. My heart goes out to the Rev. Cynthia Meyer, and I hope that she finds a new church family that embraces her and fully supports her freedom to deliver sermons from their pulpit.

As a child I began my religious training in the Methodist church in Emporia, Kan., and was always taught to be inclusive of all people. To this day I carry the values that I learned from my family and my Christian upbringing.

That the Methodist “Book of Discipline” policy continues to discriminate against homosexuals flies in the face of loving practices such as acceptance and support for all people. I hope that this article causes Methodist leadership to consider a broader policy and practice of inclusion.

Christine Smith Butler

Kansas City

McCoy cartoon

Editorial cartoonist Glenn McCoy’s Aug. 16 depiction of a vicious press dog barking “Trump” would lead one to believe that McCoy thinks he stands apart from the press he demonizes. Yet he’s one of the most rabid commentators of all.

State fair politics

Recently I made my annual visit to the Missouri State Fair. While there I passed the Missouri Republican tent. There were window sign, car decals and lawn signs for every Republican running in the state with one exception — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

There was not a thing about him. I guess this tells us how the Missouri Republican higher ups feel.

Bill Betteridge

Independence

Sorrowful sight

American flags flying at half-staff: our new normal.

Jackie Gale

Lake Tapawingo

Trump’s big secret

As a political independent and registered Republican, I watch and am up to date with politics to a high degree. However, I am dumbfounded by the failure of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to outline one specific policy position as to how he is going to “make America great again.” Yes, but how?

David Davis

Overland Park

Flooding vs. golfing

I recall years ago, then-President George W. Bush being roundly criticized by the media for doing a flyover observation of the Katrina Hurricane flooding disaster in Louisiana. Can I assume we will hear the same indignation about President Barack Obama continuing to play golf and vacation as another flooding disaster is underway in the same state?

Ed Coleman

Kansas City

Smoking hassle

The front entrance to my apartment and the front entrance to my neighbor’s apartment face each other in a partially enclosed foyer area. She has a chair next to her front door where she sits, smokes and talks on her phone off and on all day (she does not work). This chair is about 3 feet from my front door.

When I walk my dog, I enter and exit from my sliding glass door to avoid her cigarette smoke, but there is no way to lock the sliding door from the outside, which is a safety issue. I’d like to be able to come and go from my front door, so I could lock it without having to inhale the smoke.

Are there any laws that protect us non-smoking renters? Is there a law that requires the smokers in apartment complexes to be a certain distance from their neighbors’ entrances or windows?

Can you please let me know who I need to ask regarding this? Thank you in advance for your assistance.